State of the Meta (SPDC 4.09)

WW Beats Blinkdrifter decks
U/R Control Trumps WW
Grimdrifter Pawns U/R Control

Do you see what I see, its a classic rock, paper, scissors loop.

At the end of SPDC 4.09, we have the 2 grimdrifter decks in meta facing each other in the finals. With WW being hated out, we definitely see a resurgence in mulldrifter decks, especially the black variety as its discard proves to be a tough matchup for U/R control. Decks like storm control has certainly done well thus far, having won 3 consecutive std events in a row but its time has come and gone and now we have a new deck reigning over std right now. I present to you, the winning deck of SPDC 4.09, Grimdrifter!

Piloted by Commonitys very own RobE
Also piloted by finalist, Sharn Goldblade (using a similar version)

4 Mournwhelk
4 Mulldrifter
4 Phyrexian Rager
4 Pit Keeper
3 Gutless Ghoul
2 Augur of Skulls

4 Terror
3 Grim Harvest
3 Mystical Teachings
2 Eyeblight's Ending
2 Tendrils of Corruption
1 Nameless Inversion

17 Swamp
4 Terramorphic Expanse
3 Island

Sideboard
4 Ravenous Rats
3 Nameless Inversion
2 Augur of Skulls
2 Eyeblight's Ending
2 Tendrils of Corruption
1 Gutless Ghoul
1 Mystical Teachings

Lets see, what can I say about this deck, discard, lifegain, removal, it pretty much has it all. Once the harvest engine gets going, theres really not a lot you can do to stop the deck from running you over with its card advantage. As you can see, every card in the deck has card advantage built into it. The most obvious cards are grim harvest and pit keeper allowing for graveyard recursion. You have mulldrifter, phyrexian rager and mystical teachings for card drawing and fetching. You have augur of skulls and mournwhelk for discard which is highly efficient against control decks. And lastly you have lifegain in the form of tendrils and gutless ghoul and it all combines to create a deck that’s to be reckoned with! Congrats RobE!!

In the rest of the Top 4, you have Gravespwngoddess piloting burnt nemo (which took 2nd place in last weeks event) and Sticks n Stones (piloted by yours truly ) which has been consistently making the playoff rounds as well. Both decks lost to Grimdrifter so adjustments will definitely have to made before the next event. Here are the lists.

Burnt Nemo (piloted by Gravespwngoddess)

4 Keldon Halberdier
2 Mogg War Marshal
2 Errant Ephemeron
2 Shaper Parasite
4 Mulldrifter
2 AEthersnipe

4 Skred
4 Lash Out
4 Remove Soul
2 Faerie Trickery

3 Think Twice
4 Momentary Blink

9 Snow-Covered Mountain
8 Snow-Covered Island
2 Snow-Covered Plains
4 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
2 Incinerate
1 Snow-Covered Plains
4 Aven Riftwatcher
2 Faerie Trickery
3 Infiltrator il-Kor
3 Subterranean Shambler

This deck, originally created and piloted by Icarodx, had done well over the last two weeks, earning consecutive spots in the Top 4. Its combination of creatures with CIP abilities (notably mulldrifer and aethersnipe) with blink along with burn (lash out, skred) for removal and some denial in the form of counters (remove soul, trickery) earned it a spot in the Top 4.

Sticks n Stones (piloted by Krosanbeast9359, THATS RIGHT THE BEAST!! )

4 Civic Wayfinder
10 Forest
2 Llanowar Elves
4 Llanowar Sentinel
5 Mountain
5 Swamp
4 Aurochs Herd
4 Battlewand Oak
4 Cloudcrown Oak
4 Lash Out
4 Nameless Inversion
2 Penumbra Spider
2 Rootgrapple
2 Search for Tomorrow
2 Strangling Soot
2 Terramorphic Expanse

Sideboard
3 Naturalize
2 Terror
4 Hurly-Burly
4 Mwonvuli Acid-Moss
2 Strangling Soot

This deck, originally created and piloted by Hurriboy has seen multiple revisions over the course of the season. In its current form, it has lost all traces of land destruction, save for rootgrapple and acid moss in the sideboard. As hurriboy pointed out, the mvp of the deck is definitely battlewand oak as it has great synergy with cards like nameless inversion, rootgrapple, treefolks, acid moss in the sb and … forest. Nuff said!

The rest of the top 8 includes Buffeting Boggarts piloted by Carinon, Apology piloted by Jamuraa and RDW piloted by both cp70 and boardslider777. Congrats to all!!!

-Krosanbeast9359

And remember aggro is the way to go!